Rotary varnishing press



p 1936- F. T. SHE EDY ET AL 2, 2

ROTARY VARNISHING PRESS I Filed April 5, 1955 INVENTORS F/PA NA .7: sue-soy 1 19 E- A 1,001.; TRAN/(VG ATTORNEYS,

Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROTARY VARNISHING PRESS Application April 5, 1935, Serial No. 14,798

13 Claims. an. 91-13) This invention relates to the art of printing in general, and in particular to apparatus or presses for applying a layer of varnish over printed sheets so that they will have a high gloss when dry and will also be waterproof. The principal object of the present invention is to provide in one rotary style press machine, means for effectively dusting off the surface of the printed matter and immediately thereafter as a continuous operation giving the dusted surface of each sheet one or more coats of varnish, and then passing out the heavily varnished sheet to a suitable drying conveyor. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description and accompanying drawing.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation showing the relation of cylinders and rolls, grippers, wip ers, etc., arranged in accordance with our invention, and Fig. 2 is a detail view of the varnishing roller. v

Briefly described, the invention comprises a rotary press-like machine I in which the dry printed sheets are fed to a transfer cylinder 2 and transferred to another or dusting cylinder 3 where several revolving dusting rolls l clean off all the dust, particularly any loose bronze powders which would injure the appearance of the varnished sheet. A vacuum connection 5 draws out all of the loosened dust, a final holding roll 6 prevents the sheet from being pulled from the grippers of the dusting cylinder, and the sheet is taken over by another transfer cylinder 1 to a larger drum or varnishing cylinder 8 which is twicethe diameter of the preceding cylinders and receives two of the dusted sheets in tandem and whereon the one or two coats of varnish are applied by varnish rolls 9, In which are spaced about a quarter around the circumference of the drum so as to give a short interval of time for the varnish from the first roll to sink into the paper before the second coat is applied. From the drum the varnished sheets are delivered to grippers on endless chains l I to be carried on tapes l2 and delivered to a second conveyor or tapes I3 which may carry them through any type of drying box or oven desired.

As the invention resides in the general combination and not in the details of actuation, adjustment, gripper operation, drive, etc., and as allsuch minor details are well known in the printing press art, they are not described here nor shown in the drawing as it would serve no purpose but to confuse the issue. Suffice it to say, however, that the cylinders are'all slightly adjustable and set to clear one another by about asixteenth of an inch and all are geared together to travel at a uniform surface speed as by gears l4, l5, l6 and I1, and others, not shown, to revolve in the directions indicated; also the cleaning or dusting rolls 4 are suitably driven in counter surface direction to cylinder 3 and at a relatively high speed (about 800 R. P. M. as against about 40 R. P. M. for cylinder 3), while holding roll 6 is driven in the same surface direction as cylinder 3 and at the same surface speed. In further detail, the printed paper sheets are fed one by one by hand or by any suitable automatic feeder at the point l8 face down to the upper side of cylinder 2 to be gripped by its grippers I9 and delivered to the grippers 20 of cylinder 3 so that the sheet travels downwardly and face outward past the several cleaning rollers 4 and then past the holding roll 6.

I Dusting rolls 4 may be covered with soft cloth, or of soft cloth disks, or brushes, and are each adjustable toward and from cylinder 3 by any suitable means or the eccentrics indicated at 2|, and each is provided with a scraper of any desired form, but here shown as a square bar 22 with one of its corners set to impinge the revolving dusting roll. These bars may be revolved to bring any of their corners into action, and are also adjustable toward and from the dusting rolls as by their mounting brackets 23.

Holding roll 6 is similarly mounted to rolls 4 and is preferably made up of a series of spaced rubber-covered disks rolling against the paper at same surface speed as cylinder 3. The vacuum or suction connection 5 includes a sheet metal or other housing 24 substantially enclosing the dusting rolls as indicated and slanted to an exhaust pipe 5-in turn leading to any suitable type of exhaust fan.

From the dusting cylinder, the grippers 25 of transfer cylinder I carry the cleaned sheets to the varnishing drum or large cylinder 8 which, as stated, is twice the diameter of the other cylinders, and has two gaps at opposite points in its diameter fitted with grippers 26, 2'! each timed to pick a sheet from grippers 25 of cylinder 1 as the latter release it. This large cylinder preferably carries a rubber blanket 38 over each im-' pression space tensioned over a bar 39 at each end, as well as felt or other packing beneath the blankets, and operating against the under side of the large cylinder are the two varnishing rolls 9 and Ill, preferably of some rubber composition, and which rolls each bear against a larger steel roll 29 revolving in a varnish fountain or trough 30, while an adjustably mounted squeegee roller here generally numbered 33 cor1trolled by bell:

crank rods 34, 35, 36, which may be hooked upto the feeder apparatus in any of theknownways.

The setting of the varnish roll trip mechanism' should be so adjusted that in case a sheet is missed at cylinder 2, by the..time-that sheet. should have been to cylinder 8 the trip will throw off the first varnish roll 9, then throw off the second varnish roll l0 but not before it has finished the preceding sheet.

The composition varnish rolls 9 or ID may of course be grooved as indicated at 31- in Fig. 2. to provide bare margins, as on labels, etc.; also, as it seems almost superfluous to state, the. padding under the blankets of the impression drum may be cut away so that the varnish layer will terminate just at the end of the printed sheet.

Fronrthe varnishing cylinder the sheets are taken by gripper bars ill on the chains H and carried along the moving tapes l2 which pass the. sheetsto tapes 43 which latter travel a trifle faster; Tapes i! above the sheets travel at the same speed as tapes i3 and are arranged over the uncoated margins as may be left by grooves 31. of the varnish rolls.

Chains H are conveniently driven by a gear 42 in mesh with the large cylinder gear, as also are tapes 1-2 through an intermediate gear 43.

The. various sets of grippers are of course released from the sheets just before the next set grips. the sheet in the manner well. known in theart and therefore not detailed herein.

In operation the large or varnishing cylinder is driven by any suitable means at about 20 R. P. M. and the dusting rolls 1 either geared up from any suitable revolving element, or all driven by a separate motor, not shown, to ten or twenty timesv as fast as cylinder 3 as described.

While we prefer to have the varnishing cylinder twice the size of the. others, so that two sets of varnishrapplying. rolls may be spaced apart and give a.- moment for the first coat to sink in before theouter, and perhaps heavier coat is applied, it is evident'that the same result may be had by having the cylinders all. small or for one sheet only .and feeding every other revolution and retaining the sheet'two revolutions on the varnishing cylinder so as to get two coats of varnish from one fountain only. Also, it is evident that instead of feeding the sheets over the top of a transfer cylinder 2, this could be dispensed with and the. sheets fed. down to cylinder 3, but we prefer the first arrangement, as shown in. the drawing, as it gives more room under cylinder 3 for the dusting rollers. 7

The press may, of course, be made in any size to handle sheets. of any dimensions desired.

Our machine as above described overcomes the SHE of separate dusting and varnishing. machines and. gives much better work as it insures each sheet being perfectly cleaned of. loose particles and at once passed over the varnishing cylinder before it has had time. to pick up. any dust or The means for accomplishing this is of many forms, all well known in the art and not .a specific part of the present. invention, hence any further bronze powder could be released from its surface, while at the same time it speeds up the work in reducing operations.

Having thus described our improved rotary varnishing press, what we claim is:

We claim:

l. A rotary varnishing press comprising a frame, a series of rotatably mounted cylinders on Zsai'd frame geared together, means for transferring asheetof paper from one cylinder to the other throughout the series during their rotation, a soft. cleaning. roll. arranged to revolve against the face: of the sheet while on one of the cylinders, means for applying a layer of varnish on said face" of the sheet while on a later cylinder of the. series, and means for conveying the varnished sheet from the latter cylinder.

2.; A. notary varnishing press comprising a frame,,a series of rotatably mounted cylinders on said frame geared together, means for transferring a. sheet of paper'iirom one cylinder to the other throughout the series during their rotation, asoft cleaning roll arranged to revolve: against theface of the sheet while on one of the cylinders, means" for applying successive layers of. varnish on saidfaceof the sheet while on alater cylinder of the series, and means for conveying the varnished sheet from the latter cylinder,

3. A rotary varnishing press comprising a frame, a, series of rotatably mounted cylinderslon said frame geared together, means for transferringa sheet of paper from. one cylinder to the other throughout the series during their rotation, a plurality of soft cleaning rolls arranged to revolve against the face of the sheet while on one of the cylinders, scrapers arranged to bear against the cleaner rolls for removing loose particles therefrom, means for applying alayer of varnish" onsaid face of the sheet while; on. a later cylinder of the series, and means for conveying the varnished sheet from. the latter cylinder,

4. A rotary varnishingpress comprising a. frame, a series ofrotatably mounted cylinders on said. frame geared together, means for transferring. a sheetofpaper from one cylinder to the other throughout thev series during their rotation, a plurality of softcleaning rolls arranged to. revolve. against the face of. the sheet while on. one of the. cylinders, scrapers arranged. to bear against'the. cleaner rolls for removing loose particles therefrom, suction means arranged for exhausting the removed dust, means. for applying a layer of varnish on said face of the sheet while on alater cylinder of the series, and means for conveying the varnished sheet from the latter cylinder.. H V v i 5. In a.. construction as specified. in claim 1, means for tripping; the: varnish-applying means out of actiorrin emergencies.

6. Arotary varnishing press for printed sheets which comprises a plurality of rotatably mounted cylinders geared together in. a. series. for uniform surface speeds, means gripping successive sheets of. paper by the first cylinder of the series and passing. the sheets. successively to. the succeeding cylinders, rotary cleaning rolls'arranged to. bear against the. sheets for cleaning the same of dust andloose material while on one of' the cylinders,.and a pair ofspaced varnish-applying fountainspositioned to operate against the sheets while on the last cylinder. of. the series.

7.. A rotary varnishing press for printed sheets whichcomprisesa plurality of rotatably mounted cylinders,gearedl together a series for uniform surface. speeds, means gripping. successive sheets of paper by the first cylinder of the series and passing the sheets successively to the succeeding cylinders, rotary cleaning rolls arranged to bear against the sheets for cleaning the same of dust and loose material while on one of the cylinders, and a pair of spaced varnish-applying fountains positioned to operate against the sheets while on the last cylinder of the series, said last cylinder being twice the diameter of the preceding cylinders of the series and provided with gripping means arranged to take two sheets in succession therefrom in tandem relation in each revolution.

8. A rotary varnishing press for printed sheets which comprises a plurality of rotatably mounted cylinders geared together in a series for uniform surface speeds, means gripping successive sheets of paper by the first cylinder of the series and passing the sheets successively to the succeeding cylinders, rotary cleaning rolls arranged to bear against the sheets for cleaning the same of dust and loose material while on one of the cylinders, and a pair of spacedvarnish-applying fountains positioned to operate against the sheets while on the last cylinder of the series, said last cylinder being twice the diameter of the preceding cylinders of the series and provided with two blankets with tensioning means and two sets of gripping means arranged to take two sheets in succession therefrom in tandem relation in each revolution.

9. A rotary varnishing press for printed sheets comprising a sheet-receiving cylinder provided with grippers and arranged to grip the sheets face in, a second cylinder in direct gear with the first and provided with grippers arranged to take the sheet from the first cylinder and carry it face out, a plurality of dusting rolls arranged to revolve at relatively high speed against the face of the sheet while on said second cylinder, a third cylinder geared directly to the second cylinder and provided with grippers arranged to' take the sheet from the second cylinder face in, a fourth cylinder in direct gear with the third cylinder provided with grippers arranged to take the sheet from the third cylinder and carry it face out, and a varnish fountain provided with a varnish roll arranged to bear against the face of the sheet while on said fourth cylinder.

10. A rotary varnishing press for printed sheets comprising a sheet-receiving cylinder provided with grippers and arranged to grip the sheets face in, a second cylinder in direct gear with the first and provided with grippers arranged to take the sheet from the first cylinder and carry it face out, a plurality of dusting rolls arranged to revolve at relatively high speed against the face of the sheet while on said second cylinder, a third cylinder geared directly to the second cylinder and provided with grippers arranged to take the sheet from the second cylinder face in, a fourth cylinder in direct gear with the third cylinder provided with grippers arranged to take the sheet from the third cylinder and carry it face out, and a pair of spaced varnish fountains provided with varnish rolls arranged to bear against the face of the sheet while on said fourth cylinder.

11. In a construction as specified in claim 9, said fourth cylinder being twice the diameter of the third cylinder and provided with two sets of grippers at opposite points in its diameter arranged to take two sheets in succession at each revolution from the third cylinder in tandem arrangement.

12. In a construction as specified in claim 9, said fourth cylinder being twice the diameter of the third cylinder and provided with two sets of grippers at opposite points in its diameter arranged to take two sheets in succession at each revolution from the third cylinder in tamdem arrangement, and conveyor means geared to the press arranged to positively grip and take the .varnished sheets from the fourth cylinder.

13. In a rotary varnishing press as specified in claim 6, a traveling conveyor arranged above the series of cylinders and provided with means to positively grip and take the varnished sheets in succession from the last cylinder of said series and convey them from the press.

FRANK T. SI'IEEDY. LOUIS TRAUNG. 

